Simon Rushworth
There’s something incredibly satisfying about investing your time and money in a brand new band and watching them blossom into one of the best emerging acts in the business.
The next big thing is shoved in our faces every other week and fans are asked to take a huge gamble every time they throw their weight behind breakout groups with big ambitions.
In so many cases any early potential is lost, interest dries up and very often the very worst does happen. Bands drift apart, the rock and roll dream dies and it’s back to the drawing board in that search for something special.
But for every nine flops there’s a 10th band which builds on that initial buzz, works its ass off and produces music which must be heard.
Right now that band is Black Stone Cherry.
The fact that Chris Robertson and his crew somehow emerged from a tiny US town – with a population smaller than most Academy-size capacities – to land a record deal is incredible enough.
But to build on that break and become one of the most listenable classic rock bands in the world is nothing short of remarkable.
Then again, these guys deserve it.
Look at their unflinching work ethic, the positive approach to everything they do and a steely self confidence and it’s clear that BSC means business.
Factor in their high energy live shows, easy rapport with passionate fans and ability to convert the most sceptical of doubters and it’s obvious why success has come their way.
But in truth it’s all about the music.
One play of their self-titled debut proved BSC’s potential. Follow-up Folklore & Superstition demonstrated the band’s enduring class.
In fact fans and critics alike expect nothing less than another killer addition to the band’s catalogue when the guys head back into the studio in 2010.
Those of us who have followed BSC from the start feel justifiably proud that four amiable musicians with few pretensions are carrying the torch for classic rock and carrying it with force.
Watching the band perform six times in 18 months there was always the fear that one of those shows would be below par. But BSC don’t do below par.
Singer Chris has already braced himself for what he fears will be an inevitable dip in popularity but the frontman needn’t worry.
For as long as BSC keep doing things their way and making the music they love then their name will be a permanent fixture on the must-see lists of demanding gig goers everywhere.